Cody Rhodes Faces Backlash After Celebrating Fourth Consecutive WrestleMania Main Event
Cody Rhodes is heading into another WrestleMania main event — but the announcement hasn’t been universally celebrated.
The Undisputed WWE Champion took to social media on March 9 to react to the news that he will headline WrestleMania for the fourth consecutive year. Rhodes appeared proud of the milestone and referenced his status as one of the company’s top stars.
“records can be broken (even your own) There’s nothing like Mania’❗️”
However, instead of widespread praise, the tweet quickly drew backlash from a portion of the WWE fanbase. Much of the criticism stems from Rhodes defeating Drew McIntyre to regain the Undisputed WWE Championship on the March 6 episode of WWE SmackDown — a title change that sparked debate across social media and wrestling forums.
Some fans used Rhodes’ tweet as an opportunity to criticize that decision. One response mocked the situation by referencing the negative online reaction surrounding Rhodes’ recent title win.
“Congrats you broke the dislike record.”
Other fans placed the blame on WWE leadership rather than Rhodes himself, arguing that McIntyre deserved the WrestleMania spotlight instead.
“All because of Triple H, Drew deserves to be in main event.”
A number of fans also expressed frustration that McIntyre lost the championship just weeks before WrestleMania, suggesting it took away from what could have been a major moment for him heading into the event.
“Pass the ball dawg how can you rob Drew of fulfilling his dreams and walking into WM as champ.”
Some critics even compared Rhodes’ position on the card to the dominant booking eras of stars like Hulk Hogan and John Cena.
“Moving like prime Hogan and Super Cena wrapped in.”
The backlash comes shortly after the March 6 episode of SmackDown received a 1.91/10 rating on Cagematch, currently the lowest score for any WWE television show in 2026. Much of the criticism surrounding that episode focused on the decision to have Rhodes regain the Undisputed WWE Championship from McIntyre.
Despite the negative reactions from some fans, WWE’s direction for WrestleMania 42 remains unchanged. Rhodes is currently scheduled to defend the Undisputed WWE Championship against Randy Orton at the two-night event in Las Vegas.
With WrestleMania just weeks away, it remains to be seen whether fan sentiment toward the storyline will shift — or if the debate surrounding Rhodes’ latest championship reign will continue to grow as the event approaches.
Congrats you broke the dislike record pic.twitter.com/QdGwA6YSng
— (@DallasMurda) March 9, 2026
